Barclays has allowed its sponsorship of the Premier League to become little
more than “wallpaper”, according to an industry expert.

Barclays was on Sunday night accused of allowing its sponsorship of the Premier League to become little more than “wallpaper” after it emerged it was considering ending its £40 million-a-year association with the world’s richest division.

The Telegraph revealed that the bank was seriously contemplating calling time on its 13-year tenure as title sponsors, with senior figures there having decreed it had “zero value” in the UK.

But Steve Martin, of M&C Saatchi Sport and Entertainment, claimed Barclays had failed to fully exploit an association with one of sport’s most recognisable brands.

“It’s become a bit like wallpaper,” said Martin. “There’s been less innovation coming through it, it’s still a bit of a badging exercise, and it doesn’t surprise me it’s not particularly working, because I’m not sure they’ve worked particularly well on it.”

Barclays is also thought to be concerned at the rising cost of its contracts with the Premier League, the most recent instalment of which only began this season and does not expire until 2016.

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That £120 million three-year deal was almost 50 per cent up on the £82 million it paid during 2010-13 and the company fears a further price inflation as a result of the battle for TV rights between BSkyB and BT.

The Barclays group replaced Carling as the Premier League’s title sponsor in 2001 as part of the division’s globalisation drive.

Martin was confident rival brands would not be deterred from bidding by Barclays’ doubts over whether the association still represented value for money.

Admitting the Premier League may have to “work hard” to convince some potential bidders it would be a sound investment, he added: “I still don’t think they’ll struggle to sell it because of the scale, and somebody coming in will bring a real freshness to the whole thing. It’s a mega-figure – £40 million sponsorship — but then it is truly global."